Autumn
by AlexaNDYE
Summary: Pepper tries to tell Tony something. A submission for the Pepperony Week on Tumblr. Warning: minor character death.


A/N: This is a submission for the Pepperony Week on Tumblr. This is submitted by tripnskip. It's the last day of Pepperony Week, and i didn't get a time to draw something for it. Enjoy some fanfiction instead. :)

Disclaimer: I do not own Iron Man or any of the characters

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Pepper cautiously walked down the stairs to Tony's workshop. She pressed her number into the key pad and watched the glass door give its noticeable unlocking sound. She opened the door and turned her head in search of Tony. She noticed his hunched over form at his desk, no doubt looking over something on the computer monitors.

"JARVIS, upper left quadrant; magnify it." She heard Tony say to the AI.

Tony saw it magnify instantly. "It seems the air compressors are damaged. Twenty wires have been snapped during your recent outing. I'm afraid the suit is not going to be able to fly until such is replaced, or repaired." JARVIS announced.

"Yeah, doesn't take a genius to notice that." Tony chewed on his bottom lip. "How long to repair it?"

"This process will take me a few hours, I'm afraid."

"At least this will give me time to work on upgrades." He whispered to himself. "Go into repair mode and notify me when it's done." He snapped his fingers, allowing the monitors to switch to interactive blueprints, no doubt containing ideas of upgrades.

"Of course, Sir." JARVIS responded.

Pepper waited until the room was silent again. "Tony." She called out.

"Hm?" Tony hummed back, narrowing his eyes at the blueprints in front of him.

"I need to talk to you about something." She said as her bare feet slowly padded across the workshop.

He didn't even look at her. "Can it wait? I'm in the middle of something."

"No, it—" He cut her off.

"If it's about that meeting the R&D wanted, tell them I'm busy. Pencil them in for next week." Tony ordered her, tapping the monitors with his index finger. He stood up and walked over to the holographic display table. Three dimensional models of the figures on the blueprints faded in. Tony twirled the display around and cupped his chin with his hand, lost in his own thoughts.

"This isn't about work, Tony." She grounded out.

"Then can it wait until later tonight?" He asked.

Pepper looked at the clock on the wall before turning her gaze back on him. "It's 9 PM. I think it's late enough."

"Oh?" Tony absently responded; his mind was obviously on more important matters.

"Tony, if you're not going to listen to me, then I'll just leave." Pepper huffed. Her arms were now crossed over her chest. Her lips formed a deeper frown, and her mind started to shut down from exhaustion.

"Um…" He paused. Pepper was hoping he'd listen to her this time. "JARVIS." He called out. Pepper closed her eyes, fighting back the urge to storm out of his workshop, or hurling one of his tools at his head. "Give me the calculations for the capacitors for the lasers."

Pepper inhaled and exhaled slowly. "Fine." She mumbled. "You won't even look at me much less care about what I need to tell you. I'll leave." She headed for the glass door. Before the door shut behind her, she faintly heard him ask her to make him something to eat.

She didn't. She was too angry at him for not even looking at her. She was mad at him for how entranced he was with every bit of machinery in his workshop. She didn't hate him. She was mad at him for tossing her aside for the past few days, failing to acknowledge her needs as his girlfriend.

The next day was completely silent. Tony hadn't gone to bed yet. He hadn't even noticed Pepper's absence in the mansion, nor had he noticed the absent meal he had asked her for the night before. When he had finally finished testing one of the ideas of weaponry for his suit, he had strolled upstairs to look for his awaiting girlfriend he had missed so much.

He looked around the mansion and found no trace of her. Her clothes were still in their proper place, but some of the items in their bathroom disappeared.

"JARVIS, how long till you finish repairing the suit?" Tony asked aloud.

"Ten minutes, Sir." The AI responded.

"Is Pepper at the office?"

"She is not. It is also a Saturday. Miss Potts does not go to the office on Saturdays."

"Mm…" Tony hummed to himself. "Right. Okay, don't panic." He mumbled. "Maybe she went for a jog, or something."

"Miss Potts asked Mister Hogan to drive her to the airport last night at 9:31 PM." JARVIS announced.

"Call Happy." Tony ordered.

"Yes, Boss?" Happy's voice suddenly filled the room.

"Where's Pepper?" Tony asked abruptly.

"Um… Did she not tell you where she was going?" Happy furrowed his eyebrows.

"JARVIS told me you took her to the airport last night."

"Yeah, I did. I'm surprised you didn't go with her – I mean, you two are together, and I thought it would be one of those occasions—"

"What do you mean? Why would I go with her?" Tony curiously asked. He was puzzled beyond belief. He had no idea what Happy was talking about.

"Wait, did Pepper not tell you what happened?"

"Um, that depends. What happened?" At this point, Tony had begun to grow impatient.

"Pepper's mother passed away last week. Her funeral is today." Happy told him. His voice was apologetic and soothing. "I'm surprised she didn't tell you."

Tony widened his eyes in shock. "Yeah…" He didn't know what to think. _Why didn't Pepper tell me?_ He pressed his lips together and abruptly ended the call. "JARVIS, get the suit ready as soon as possible."

The trees let the autumn season take its toll on their branches. Shades of brown colored leaves unattached themselves from their branches and floated to the ground. Crunches from people stepping on them was all Pepper heard. She stood by the rectangular hole in the ground where the casket was lowered into.

One by one, she hugged each of her mother's friends, as they all apologized for her loss. Most of them she knew by first name. They were either her past teachers from middle or elementary school, or they were household neighbors.

After everyone had gone home, she stood there for at least an hour more, cherishing her memories of her mother. She smiled as some of the brown leaves blew onto the casket. Her mother loved autumn. It was her favorite season.

More crunching of leaves sounded behind her. Pepper didn't even pay attention to the sound. Her thoughts were more focused on her mother. An arm wrapped around her shoulders abruptly. She recognized the scent of cologne; what brand it was, and where it was sprayed.

"Why are you here?" Pepper asked him.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Tony asked back without taking her question into thought.

The cemetery personnel began to shovel dirt onto the casket. That's when Pepper shrugged his arm off her, and walked away. Tony felt a pang of sadness hit his heart. He immediately walked to catch up with her.

"You didn't answer my question." He reminded her.

Pepper's hands were deep in her coat pockets, shielded from the cold air. She didn't answer him. After a few seconds of silence, Tony shoved himself in front of her and stopped, making her stop as well. She looked up at him, and all he saw was sadness.

"Why didn't you tell me?" He asked her again. His hands were now on her waist.

"It didn't seem like you cared." She pressed her lips together in anger.

"Didn't care?" He narrowed his eyes at her. "What are you talking about? Of course I care, Pepper."

"Tony, I tried to tell you." She angrily told him. All the anger from losing her mother, and the lack of attention from Tony spewed out. "I tried to tell you that my mother died, but you didn't even look at me – you didn't even notice I was there."

"Are you talking about last night?" He asked her, trying to calm her down. "I told you I was busy—"

"No." She shook her head at him. "I'm not talking about last night. I'm talking about the last few days."

"Last few—" She cut him off.

"Ever since I got the call, I've been trying to tell you what happened and you just…" Tears started to form in the corner of her eyes. She shook her head at him.

That's when it hit him. All those days of hearing Pepper step into his workshop, trying to get him to sit down with her; all of those days, he had been busy. Fury had been putting him on more missions each week, and it has taken a toll on his body, his mental capacity, and his attention span. He had been working hard to repair the suit, and during all that work, Pepper had wanted to talk to him.

When she needed him most, he had been too busy to even pay attention to her.

"I'm sorry." He apologized quietly. He drew her in towards his chest, but she pushed him away. He widened his eyes at her, hurt from her actions.

"No—You don't get to apologize." She sternly told him. Anger poured out of her.

"Pepper…" He drew out softly.

"I _needed_ you, Tony." She spat out.

"I know."

"The last of my family past away and you were too engrossed in your damn suit to even care." She yelled at him again. Tears started spilling down her cheeks. He hated it when she cried, especially since ninety-nine percent of the time, it was because of him.

He wrapped his arms around her shoulders and held her against his chest, not wanting to let go. This time, she wrapped her arms around his waist and cried against his jacket. She let out all the pain, sadness, and heartache that mentally exhausted her.

They sat down at a nearby tree, watching the cemetery personnel finish burying her mother's casket. Tony's back was to the tree and his arms were wrapped around the waist of the person sitting in between his legs. He bent over to tighten his hold on her. She recognized it as one of his apologetic gestures.

"I'm sorry." He whispered into her ear again, kissing her cheek tenderly. She leaned into his embrace and snuggled into his arms. "I love you, Pepper."

Pepper watched the autumn breeze blow the leaves over her mother's burial ground. A blanket of leaves rested on her mother's grave. A soft smile formed on Pepper's face. She couldn't expect Tony to be the perfect boyfriend, not after everything he's been though. She didn't forgive him, and he knew that. He would have to earn her forgiveness.


End file.
